department of the interior: home decor

also obvs the living/lounging/eating/sleeping space
i have another pic i scanned but there is a corner missing because i used to make collages out of this book

these people look so satisfied with their lives!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6059/6354960929_c2808bda05_b.jpg

your dog bed doubles as dining room! it's the portrait of comfortable colorful sloth.

My bedroom windows, it turns out, are over 6' tall inside the frames. This means material for the window-shades I wanted to make will run me $130. Am I insane? I considered drapes, too, because IKEA et al sell them cheaply, but then I'd need 4 panels, plus rods and mounting hardware, which is also gonna add up. Plus you're limited to what they sell.

I really want this fabric:

http://tonicliving.com/items/varennayellowroll%2Ejpg

that is nice!

i have a desk problem. it keeps being covered in stuff, mostly paper stuff.

i only have a 1-bdrm apartment and my desk is in the middle of my narrow living space. i think i need some kind of wall-based shelving/filing unit. and to not be so disorganized re: papers, books, pens, electronic equipment, nail files, christmas cards, all the things.

I love that fabric, Laurel! Get it and make the shades because it's going to look far better than any drapes you can get for a comparable amount.

The lined drapes I like are almost double that. :( So I guess Tonic Living, here I come.

rrrobyn, I feel ya. That giant dresser/credenza I bought? The top is currently edge-to-edge covered with random shit. Cleaning task for tomorrow.

Shelving is always AWESOME. I <3 shelving.

Oh haha wait, I totally lied, it's not $130. A yard has three feet in it and I'm the world's biggest flake. It's only $50.

My goal is to coordinate those shades with brown bedding and these:

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-81115173642111_2190_207068051

I bought two panels at IKEA the other day *for* $50, so sounds like a good deal!

ooh those crazy pillows!

i really need to up my department of the interior game

in my head this now means buying some pretty throw pillows

laurel we bought curtains and a curtain rod and mounts for our v large front window at IKEA for i think $65 total and they look really nice, i think.

I'm glad to hear that! Do we rate a photo?

robyn I don't understand throw pillows at all, I try to and I love them because they're so colorful and there are so many, like CANDY for your HOUSE, but seriously who SITS ON THEM?? Or sleeps on them. Nobody.

finnstyleis having a marimekko sale and i'm having trouble not buying everything

i already have a whole bunch of stretched marimekko fabric and really need to have stuff on my walls that is not marimekko fabric but i jusssssst cannn't stoppppp

I'm glad to hear that! Do we rate a photo?

haha sure:
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/Picture007.jpg

IS THAT WALLPAPER? IS THAT YOUR WALLPAPER? Oh well done.

I have probably ten throw pillows on our L-shaped couch. We lean on them! Rest our heads! Put them on our laps for coziness! Only time I've seen someone sit on them is when the dog curls up all cutely in a ball and sleeps there.

LAMP ARE YOU AT JANE?? That looks like the Jane tree. Love the walls/apartment vibe!

i got these military-animal bust images on super huge throw pillows for the bedroom (black on a sort of taupe colour)

http://img0.etsystatic.com/il_570xN.215909076.jpg

http://img0.etsystatic.com/il_570xN.155787868.jpg

and also two lamps like this

http://img0.etsystatic.com/il_570xN.187577776.jpg

except one of the vintage shades was totally fucked bc the seller failed to properly package them at all, and now i'm having the hardest time finding replacements.

also gonna repaint the antique night tables i've had for a while, hang some more art and buy new bedding.

yeah, we just put it up last month. we also painted and installed new light fixtures and blah blah blah. pic in better light:

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/Picture002.jpg

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/Picture003.jpg

xps - no, like east part of little portugal close to trinity bellwoods

I really love that paper. I couldn't put it in my place but I adore looking at it. And it's perfect with the candle sconce.

Now you just have to paint the inside walls of that window niche a nice light-sucking charcoal grey to be in keeping with the darkened historic library theme.

haha we just painted! it doesnt show very well but its a very cool mint green with a bit of a grey tone. it looks nice with the rest of the stuff we have in the room, i think.

I once moved into an apt with the kitchen painted somewhere between mint and pistachio. I was unsure about it at first but it was soothing to look at every day, it made me happy to prepare food in, and now I miss it. I'm sure your green is even better and goes great with that sofa that seems to have really cool squared lines.

holy wow at that wallpaper. where is that print from?

it made me thing of charles burchfield for some reason. ok i'm starting a thread for prints/patterns so i don't overwhelm this thread.

You know what's really fun? Trying to identify as many of those sf/f books as possible from their spines. Do I spy Sean Russell's Sea Without a Shore down in the middle column? And is that a Tad Williams on top?

And I could swear there's a Thomas Canty or two.

all I really want in my dept of home interior is a giant awesome bed with awesome sheets, a sweet minimalist couch with maximalist comfort, a swimming pool, a climbing wall, a terasse, a living room that opens to the (well-ventilated kitchen) and a good vacuum. Also: art.

And yeah some kind of mythic organizing system for all my ridiculous shit.

Of that list, I have...a vacuum.

I probably want cool wallpaper too! But would hardly think of it! I need a decorator! One day!

I just keep hanging all sorts of found crap on my walls that i think looks pretty. it's good. the bedroom walls are starting to accumulate religious art and floral dinner plates. i have added plenty more yarn art to the kitchen. also i am going out to look for moss / ferns / small plants today because TERRARIUMS.

oh oh and i got a cute edward gorey print for xmas, it is of two bearded dudes in furs touring in a motorcar, i adore it but haven't hung it up yet

The Gorey sounds wonderful!

I need to get some things framed for shur. Maybe I'll go to Marshall's today and see what ugly things in frames are going for.

West Elm sent me a coupon for 15% off. Yes, that makes that $100 bath rug totally affordable, thanks.

our house is like ski lodge with white walls instead of wood. its got a mezzanine with a balcony looking down into the living room. All very open plan. lately I've had a vey strong desire to tile the kitchen walls and bathroom walls. considering the walls are so white and tall in the rest of the house would this be a mistake. im not thinking ceramic but instead glass tiles like these:

http://www.mybestkitchen.net/glass-tile/

Prob not this extreme but something along these lines

am i crazy?

We did a bit of our bathroom in mosaic tiles. They can get way expensive if you're doing a large area so make sure you shop around and haggle for a good price. You can get coloured grouting as well that will finish off the look.

any regrets? and where did you do it? walls, shower? etc

No regrets but it was part of a major renovation we put a lot of time and money into! Did them around the bath up to the ceiling, which was a p huge area.
Was admiring the glass tiles in Sherlock last week as well....
I did find that a lot of them have this iridescent sheen which just makes everything look shiny and pink regardless of the underlying colour.

yeah that iridescence is what has me hooked. Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll start with a subtle kitchen backslpash and see how much more I can handle from there.

My insane pillow cases AND my shade fabric are here!!!! Bedroom re-do before Monday!

OMG the shams come in a cute little self-fabric drawstring bag. <3 <3

Excited for you! And btw I am in NYC, whatcha doing tomorrow other than sewing???